The Kings Banquet

Dear Friends,

Recently one of my daily readings in my Bible In One Year App was a story Rev. Nicky Gumbel tells of the day he received a message that Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022), who was then Queen of the United Kingdom had invited him to lunch!

At first, he thought it was a practical joke. But it wasn’t. He turned up at Buckingham Palace on his bicycle, which an amused policeman looked after for him!

He went inside and was seated next to the Queen. They ate some amazing food, then the Queen turned and began to talk to him just as the ‘Parfait de Rhubarbe et Chocolat Blanc’ arrived.

It looked delicious. But he did not want to talk with his mouth full – nor did he want to seem rude by cutting into it while the Queen was speaking to him. Eventually, she asked Nicky whether he did not like the food. ‘No, no, no,’ he said, ‘I love it’ (as he quickly began to eat). He did not say it to her, but the real reason he had not eaten was that he was overwhelmed by the privilege of being invited to lunch with the Queen.

Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a great party with the King, one to which we are all invited. Luke 14 v. 15 says, "What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”

Jesus is the host of this party. The Son of God invites you to experience the lavish hospitality and love of God. You are not on your own with the host. It is the presence of other guests that turns it into a celebratory party.

The food that Jesus supplies satisfies the hunger in your heart. It fills the spiritual vacuum. It satisfies your hunger for meaning and purpose in life, for forgiveness, and for life beyond death. The drink at the banquet satisfies the spiritual thirst in every human heart.

Let's think to invite others to the party as well, as we respond to Jesus’ command to "go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame" Luke 14 v. 21

The daily invitation of our heavenly King is to talk to him as a friend and co-heir of the Kingdom. That is better than all the pageantry and ceremony on Saturday as King Charles III ascends his earthly throne.
Let’s choose daily to accept Jesus’s invitation to the greatest party of all!

Blessings to you all, and please send me your prayer requests and updates when you have a moment.

Derek+